Chapter 6: Under the Moon
The wind on a spring night is cool but not biting. It carried with it some damp moisture from the daytime, making it so stuffy and suffocating.
Liang Weiping looked at the pretty boy in front of him and took a deep breath to prevent himself from fainting. Even his voice trembled when he asked the questions.
"You...what did you say?"
Lin Wanqing clenched her fists tightly under her wide sleeves, and replied as if she was competing with someone: "I said I want to try Wang Hu."
As soon as she finished speaking, her sleeves were pulled tightly by Liang Weiping.
"Ancestor...I beg you as your brother, please don't commit suicide..."
She glanced at Liang Weiping's tearful face, but seemed not to hear his words. She just pulled back her sleeves and hurried in the direction of Jingzhao Prefecture.
"Lin! Lin Wanqing! Lin Wanqing, stop right there!" Liang Weiping chased after him, furious.
But Lin Wanqing didn't even look back, and even his steps were not slow at all.
Liang Weiping felt the veins on his forehead throbbing, "Do you know what crime this is for trespassing into the death row of Jingzhao Prefecture?!"
"I am originally from Jingzhao Prefecture. How can it be considered trespassing?" Lin Wanqing asked back with confidence.
"But you've been suspended."
"Li Jingzhao asked me to be suspended tomorrow, which means that before midnight tonight, I'm still a member of Jingzhao Prefecture."
"..." Liang Weiping choked, as if he would never be able to win the argument with Lin Wanqing.
"Do you really have to go?" He asked in a weak and almost desperate tone.
"Yeah."
A firm word, falling into the darkness, sounded particularly sonorous.
The night was as dark as water, and everything around was dim.
Under the dim street lights, he looked at Lin Wanqing's overly thin profile, with a glimmer in his eyes, and suddenly he felt something become clear.
Forget it. Once this guy gets angry, even ten horses can't pull him back.
This is the only thing that makes her unlovable; but this is also the most lovable thing about her.
Liang Weiping stopped his chaotic steps and watched the light gray figure walking farther and farther away into the night. He sighed helplessly and said, "I'm at Qingyaju."
He didn't want to follow her to die, but if something happened, Lin Wanqing had to know where to find him to collect the body.
Lin Wanqing was jogging in front, and the sound of splashing water was heard in his ears. The accumulated rainwater mixed with mud on the bluestone road soon stained the corners of her robe, leaving deep and light marks.
Su Moyi said she didn't understand Wang Hu's case.
She really didn't understand.
What kind of case can only be investigated at the cost of wrongly accusing someone?
Besides, besides Wang Hu, she was also the one who was wronged.
After ten years of hard work and time, if she is to give it all up, she must do so with a clear and unambiguous mind.
After all, you can't just dismiss it with a sentence like "you don't understand".
No one can accept this.
Lin Wanqing's thoughts were in a frenzy, and his steps were as fast as the wind. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture.
She turned around and walked in through the side door.
There were many servants in the Jingzhao Prefecture, and although the jailers did not have much interaction with the civil officials on a daily basis, Lin Wanqing often helped record confessions and went to the prison quite often, so he had some friendships with some of the jailers.
Now she was still wearing the official uniform of Jingzhao Prefecture and had a wooden badge indicating her identity on her body. Besides, it was she who followed Li Jingzhao to see Su Moyi in the morning. Let’s say some of the previous files were incomplete, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to go in and record another statement now.
Besides, if we go during a night shift change when there are fewer people, it will be easier to fool them.
As expected, the jailer at the prison gate looked at the wooden sign and saw that she was in a disheveled state. He thought it must be an urgent matter arranged by his superiors, so he let her in without delay.
Inside the dark and cramped death cell, the oil lamp emitted wisps of black smoke, leaving mottled marks on the wall, one circle after another like ghosts.
The atmosphere in the slightly empty space was stagnant, and the air was filled with the musty odor of hay and a faint fishy smell.
The sound of empty footsteps rang in her ears, one after another, making Lin Wanqing nervous for no reason.
Under a dim oil lamp at the end of the death row, a ragged man sat dejectedly. His messy hair obscured his face, and the half-dried bloodstains on his clothes contrasted with the dirty surroundings.
It was too conspicuous, dyeing the white prison uniform reddish brown.
"Wang Hu?" Lin Wanqing tried to call out.
The first response to her was the sound of a string of iron chains.
The man was like a frightened animal, panicking and ignorant, and could only cover his head and run away.
Lin Wanqing didn't expect him to react like this. She hesitated and took a few steps back before she saw him calm down in the corner, looking down at her. The corners of his mouth kept twitching, making some rustling sounds.
Only when she got closer did Lin Wanqing hear what he was muttering: I confess, I confessed everything…
Lin Wanqing was stunned for a moment, and then she asked in a low voice after a long while, "What did you confess?"
The man in front of her paused, and his voice became a little louder, with uneasy fear and full of anger and resentment in it.
"I killed her. It was I who killed Aunt Zhao. It was I who killed her..."
At this point, Lin Wanqing finally understood why Wang Hu admitted to this false accusation.
There are two main reasons for all the unjust cases in the world: being unable to speak out, or being forced to confess under torture. The person in front of me must be the latter.
He knew that he had been captured at the scene, and the deceased was the favorite concubine of a third-rank official in the court. It is already difficult to get out of this unscathed. I guess Li Jingzhao must have said something to him, which must have cut off all his hopes and thoughts.
Coupled with the torture and pressure, and the darkness of such a place, it is easy for people who are already panicked to lose their mental defenses. Become a person who follows the crowd and gets whatever he wants.
Lin Wanqing had no choice but to continue asking, "You said you killed Aunt Zhao, so do you remember what weapon you used?"
The person opposite was in a trance for a while, as if trying to search for something in his mind, and then said, "A knife, a... a short knife."
Lin Wanqing frowned slightly, and asked back with a cold face, "You clearly carried a sword on your night patrol."
He carried a sword, but used a knife.
This doesn't make sense.
Wang Hu was indeed stumped by the question. He stammered and fell silent, his blood-stained hands tightly gripping the iron chain, a cold white color on their faces.
"Wang Hu, listen to me. The emperor has handed this case over to Lord Su, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. Lord Su knows that you have been wronged, but he can no longer intervene because you have pleaded guilty yourself." Lin Wanqing took a few steps forward, his voice becoming softer, "As long as you tell the truth, Lord Su will be able to overturn the case for you." As soon
as he finished speaking, the person in front of him finally raised his head.
A pair of eyes filled with fear and helplessness looked at Lin Wanqing doubtfully through the messy hair. The dry lips opened and closed, stammering and struggling.
"Wang Hu," Lin Wanqing walked forward and squatted on the ground to look him in the eye, "Do you know that if you confess this crime, you will definitely die, and you won't even have to wait until autumn to be executed..."
"What?"
Wang Hu's body trembled slightly, and his pair of dark eyes stared at Lin Wanqing in disbelief, "But...but Lord Li said that as long as I confess to the case, he will save my life. He can even send me out of Shengjing, and Lord Song will never cause trouble for me..."
"Wang Hu," Lin Wanqing moved closer, climbing up the fence with his hands soaked in cold sweat, "Lord Su is your only hope now."
The man in front of him fell silent, as if he had fallen into an invisible battle between heaven and man.
The oil lamp above my head flickered, occasionally making a crackling sound, sparks flying out, and then quickly going out again.
The surroundings are quiet, yet noisy.
Lin Wanqing heard the thumping in his chest and fixed his eyes on Wang Hu, as if he wanted to stare two holes into him.
After a long time, he finally said, "I didn't kill anyone. Aunt Zhao was already dead when I went there."
Lin Wanqing's heart trembled, and she asked, "What were you doing in a girl's boudoir in the middle of the night?"
Wang Hu smiled bitterly, "She is a distant relative of my childhood sweetheart. Before she married into the Song Mansion, she was promised to me as my wife. Unfortunately, fate is so cruel..."
"Did you go to have a tryst with her?"
Wang Hu shook his head and said helplessly, "We haven't seen each other since she married into the Song Mansion. Until a few days ago, I ran into the Song Mansion's carriage on the street. She took the opportunity to hand me a note, begging me to take her out of the city that night. I thought she had changed her mind and wanted to reconcile with me, so I agreed. But that night I couldn't wait for anyone outside the house, and I was worried about her safety, so I wanted to check it out..."
"I never thought that you would find her body as soon as you got there."
"That's right..." Wang Hu laughed as if to mock himself, "She lost her mother in her childhood, and then her father. She finally recognized her cousin in the Marquis' Mansion, but in the blink of an eye, she was married to a place like that. If I had known this would happen..."
His tone was filled with self-blame and regret that were difficult to conceal, and he finally swallowed the rest of his words.
Lin Wanqing knew that now was not the time to be saddened by the scene, so she continued to ask: "Have you seen any suspicious people nearby?"
Wang Hu thought for a while, hesitantly said: "It seems that before I entered the door, I saw a woman."
"Oh?" Lin Wanqing became interested, "What kind of woman?" "
She was a little far away, and I couldn't see clearly. She was generally not tall, and her clothes made her look like a maid in the Song Mansion. She seemed to have a leg disease and walked with a limp. But she just stayed around for a while and left without going in."
Lin Wanqing frowned, and her lively eyes lost some luster.
It seems that Wang Hu could not provide any useful information, but at least it confirmed that he was really wronged.
As for that woman, no matter whether she is related or not, she is a clue that cannot be missed.
Lin Wanqing pondered for a moment and said to Wang Hu, "I'll go get paper and pen and give you a confession. You have to sign and seal it, and I will find a way to hand it to Lord Su."
Seeing that Wang Hu was silent for a moment and nodded in agreement, she turned around and ran out of the prison.
The moon had peeked out at some point, casting a silver glow on the quiet and cold spring night, as if brightening Lin Wanqing's mood.
There was a faint fragrance floating in the wind. Lin Wanqing moved his nose, and it was the spring peach in Jingzhao Prefecture. The moonlight was flowing, and the peach tree looked like a handful of pink clouds under the moon, when the breeze blew.
Light sweetness with a hint of warmth.
She looked up happily, and in her peripheral vision, a hint of rouge color flowed very quickly, accompanied by a little cold white.
Lin Wanqing was subconsciously stunned for a moment, and when she turned around to look for it, she only saw pink rain falling from the sky.
There was no rouge color at all. It must have been the petals flying in the air that dazzled her eyes.
She then felt relieved and continued to run to the nearest file room. On the way, they met two Jingzhao Prefecture bailiffs who were on patrol together. They were laughing and waving their swords under the moonlight.
Perhaps it was because the moonlight was too good, the silver light was turned by the sharp edge of the sword and flashed into Lin Wanqing's eyes, turning into dots of cold light.
Wait...
The hands that were about to touch the wooden door were just hanging in the air.
All Lin Wanqing could see before his eyes was the cold white light that had just appeared under the haze.
That was not the moon, but...
but...
a cold sword!
His breathing hitched, and a shiver ran down his spine.
Lin Wanqing didn't even bother to pick up the pen and ink. He just lifted up the hem of his robe and ran towards the death row. PREV TOC NEXT
Liang Weiping looked at the pretty boy in front of him and took a deep breath to prevent himself from fainting. Even his voice trembled when he asked the questions.
"You...what did you say?"
Lin Wanqing clenched her fists tightly under her wide sleeves, and replied as if she was competing with someone: "I said I want to try Wang Hu."
As soon as she finished speaking, her sleeves were pulled tightly by Liang Weiping.
"Ancestor...I beg you as your brother, please don't commit suicide..."
She glanced at Liang Weiping's tearful face, but seemed not to hear his words. She just pulled back her sleeves and hurried in the direction of Jingzhao Prefecture.
"Lin! Lin Wanqing! Lin Wanqing, stop right there!" Liang Weiping chased after him, furious.
But Lin Wanqing didn't even look back, and even his steps were not slow at all.
Liang Weiping felt the veins on his forehead throbbing, "Do you know what crime this is for trespassing into the death row of Jingzhao Prefecture?!"
"I am originally from Jingzhao Prefecture. How can it be considered trespassing?" Lin Wanqing asked back with confidence.
"But you've been suspended."
"Li Jingzhao asked me to be suspended tomorrow, which means that before midnight tonight, I'm still a member of Jingzhao Prefecture."
"..." Liang Weiping choked, as if he would never be able to win the argument with Lin Wanqing.
"Do you really have to go?" He asked in a weak and almost desperate tone.
"Yeah."
A firm word, falling into the darkness, sounded particularly sonorous.
The night was as dark as water, and everything around was dim.
Under the dim street lights, he looked at Lin Wanqing's overly thin profile, with a glimmer in his eyes, and suddenly he felt something become clear.
Forget it. Once this guy gets angry, even ten horses can't pull him back.
This is the only thing that makes her unlovable; but this is also the most lovable thing about her.
Liang Weiping stopped his chaotic steps and watched the light gray figure walking farther and farther away into the night. He sighed helplessly and said, "I'm at Qingyaju."
He didn't want to follow her to die, but if something happened, Lin Wanqing had to know where to find him to collect the body.
Lin Wanqing was jogging in front, and the sound of splashing water was heard in his ears. The accumulated rainwater mixed with mud on the bluestone road soon stained the corners of her robe, leaving deep and light marks.
Su Moyi said she didn't understand Wang Hu's case.
She really didn't understand.
What kind of case can only be investigated at the cost of wrongly accusing someone?
Besides, besides Wang Hu, she was also the one who was wronged.
After ten years of hard work and time, if she is to give it all up, she must do so with a clear and unambiguous mind.
After all, you can't just dismiss it with a sentence like "you don't understand".
No one can accept this.
Lin Wanqing's thoughts were in a frenzy, and his steps were as fast as the wind. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture.
She turned around and walked in through the side door.
There were many servants in the Jingzhao Prefecture, and although the jailers did not have much interaction with the civil officials on a daily basis, Lin Wanqing often helped record confessions and went to the prison quite often, so he had some friendships with some of the jailers.
Now she was still wearing the official uniform of Jingzhao Prefecture and had a wooden badge indicating her identity on her body. Besides, it was she who followed Li Jingzhao to see Su Moyi in the morning. Let’s say some of the previous files were incomplete, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to go in and record another statement now.
Besides, if we go during a night shift change when there are fewer people, it will be easier to fool them.
As expected, the jailer at the prison gate looked at the wooden sign and saw that she was in a disheveled state. He thought it must be an urgent matter arranged by his superiors, so he let her in without delay.
Inside the dark and cramped death cell, the oil lamp emitted wisps of black smoke, leaving mottled marks on the wall, one circle after another like ghosts.
The atmosphere in the slightly empty space was stagnant, and the air was filled with the musty odor of hay and a faint fishy smell.
The sound of empty footsteps rang in her ears, one after another, making Lin Wanqing nervous for no reason.
Under a dim oil lamp at the end of the death row, a ragged man sat dejectedly. His messy hair obscured his face, and the half-dried bloodstains on his clothes contrasted with the dirty surroundings.
It was too conspicuous, dyeing the white prison uniform reddish brown.
"Wang Hu?" Lin Wanqing tried to call out.
The first response to her was the sound of a string of iron chains.
The man was like a frightened animal, panicking and ignorant, and could only cover his head and run away.
Lin Wanqing didn't expect him to react like this. She hesitated and took a few steps back before she saw him calm down in the corner, looking down at her. The corners of his mouth kept twitching, making some rustling sounds.
Only when she got closer did Lin Wanqing hear what he was muttering: I confess, I confessed everything…
Lin Wanqing was stunned for a moment, and then she asked in a low voice after a long while, "What did you confess?"
The man in front of her paused, and his voice became a little louder, with uneasy fear and full of anger and resentment in it.
"I killed her. It was I who killed Aunt Zhao. It was I who killed her..."
At this point, Lin Wanqing finally understood why Wang Hu admitted to this false accusation.
There are two main reasons for all the unjust cases in the world: being unable to speak out, or being forced to confess under torture. The person in front of me must be the latter.
He knew that he had been captured at the scene, and the deceased was the favorite concubine of a third-rank official in the court. It is already difficult to get out of this unscathed. I guess Li Jingzhao must have said something to him, which must have cut off all his hopes and thoughts.
Coupled with the torture and pressure, and the darkness of such a place, it is easy for people who are already panicked to lose their mental defenses. Become a person who follows the crowd and gets whatever he wants.
Lin Wanqing had no choice but to continue asking, "You said you killed Aunt Zhao, so do you remember what weapon you used?"
The person opposite was in a trance for a while, as if trying to search for something in his mind, and then said, "A knife, a... a short knife."
Lin Wanqing frowned slightly, and asked back with a cold face, "You clearly carried a sword on your night patrol."
He carried a sword, but used a knife.
This doesn't make sense.
Wang Hu was indeed stumped by the question. He stammered and fell silent, his blood-stained hands tightly gripping the iron chain, a cold white color on their faces.
"Wang Hu, listen to me. The emperor has handed this case over to Lord Su, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. Lord Su knows that you have been wronged, but he can no longer intervene because you have pleaded guilty yourself." Lin Wanqing took a few steps forward, his voice becoming softer, "As long as you tell the truth, Lord Su will be able to overturn the case for you." As soon
as he finished speaking, the person in front of him finally raised his head.
A pair of eyes filled with fear and helplessness looked at Lin Wanqing doubtfully through the messy hair. The dry lips opened and closed, stammering and struggling.
"Wang Hu," Lin Wanqing walked forward and squatted on the ground to look him in the eye, "Do you know that if you confess this crime, you will definitely die, and you won't even have to wait until autumn to be executed..."
"What?"
Wang Hu's body trembled slightly, and his pair of dark eyes stared at Lin Wanqing in disbelief, "But...but Lord Li said that as long as I confess to the case, he will save my life. He can even send me out of Shengjing, and Lord Song will never cause trouble for me..."
"Wang Hu," Lin Wanqing moved closer, climbing up the fence with his hands soaked in cold sweat, "Lord Su is your only hope now."
The man in front of him fell silent, as if he had fallen into an invisible battle between heaven and man.
The oil lamp above my head flickered, occasionally making a crackling sound, sparks flying out, and then quickly going out again.
The surroundings are quiet, yet noisy.
Lin Wanqing heard the thumping in his chest and fixed his eyes on Wang Hu, as if he wanted to stare two holes into him.
After a long time, he finally said, "I didn't kill anyone. Aunt Zhao was already dead when I went there."
Lin Wanqing's heart trembled, and she asked, "What were you doing in a girl's boudoir in the middle of the night?"
Wang Hu smiled bitterly, "She is a distant relative of my childhood sweetheart. Before she married into the Song Mansion, she was promised to me as my wife. Unfortunately, fate is so cruel..."
"Did you go to have a tryst with her?"
Wang Hu shook his head and said helplessly, "We haven't seen each other since she married into the Song Mansion. Until a few days ago, I ran into the Song Mansion's carriage on the street. She took the opportunity to hand me a note, begging me to take her out of the city that night. I thought she had changed her mind and wanted to reconcile with me, so I agreed. But that night I couldn't wait for anyone outside the house, and I was worried about her safety, so I wanted to check it out..."
"I never thought that you would find her body as soon as you got there."
"That's right..." Wang Hu laughed as if to mock himself, "She lost her mother in her childhood, and then her father. She finally recognized her cousin in the Marquis' Mansion, but in the blink of an eye, she was married to a place like that. If I had known this would happen..."
His tone was filled with self-blame and regret that were difficult to conceal, and he finally swallowed the rest of his words.
Lin Wanqing knew that now was not the time to be saddened by the scene, so she continued to ask: "Have you seen any suspicious people nearby?"
Wang Hu thought for a while, hesitantly said: "It seems that before I entered the door, I saw a woman."
"Oh?" Lin Wanqing became interested, "What kind of woman?" "
She was a little far away, and I couldn't see clearly. She was generally not tall, and her clothes made her look like a maid in the Song Mansion. She seemed to have a leg disease and walked with a limp. But she just stayed around for a while and left without going in."
Lin Wanqing frowned, and her lively eyes lost some luster.
It seems that Wang Hu could not provide any useful information, but at least it confirmed that he was really wronged.
As for that woman, no matter whether she is related or not, she is a clue that cannot be missed.
Lin Wanqing pondered for a moment and said to Wang Hu, "I'll go get paper and pen and give you a confession. You have to sign and seal it, and I will find a way to hand it to Lord Su."
Seeing that Wang Hu was silent for a moment and nodded in agreement, she turned around and ran out of the prison.
The moon had peeked out at some point, casting a silver glow on the quiet and cold spring night, as if brightening Lin Wanqing's mood.
There was a faint fragrance floating in the wind. Lin Wanqing moved his nose, and it was the spring peach in Jingzhao Prefecture. The moonlight was flowing, and the peach tree looked like a handful of pink clouds under the moon, when the breeze blew.
Light sweetness with a hint of warmth.
She looked up happily, and in her peripheral vision, a hint of rouge color flowed very quickly, accompanied by a little cold white.
Lin Wanqing was subconsciously stunned for a moment, and when she turned around to look for it, she only saw pink rain falling from the sky.
There was no rouge color at all. It must have been the petals flying in the air that dazzled her eyes.
She then felt relieved and continued to run to the nearest file room. On the way, they met two Jingzhao Prefecture bailiffs who were on patrol together. They were laughing and waving their swords under the moonlight.
Perhaps it was because the moonlight was too good, the silver light was turned by the sharp edge of the sword and flashed into Lin Wanqing's eyes, turning into dots of cold light.
Wait...
The hands that were about to touch the wooden door were just hanging in the air.
All Lin Wanqing could see before his eyes was the cold white light that had just appeared under the haze.
That was not the moon, but...
but...
a cold sword!
His breathing hitched, and a shiver ran down his spine.
Lin Wanqing didn't even bother to pick up the pen and ink. He just lifted up the hem of his robe and ran towards the death row. PREV TOC NEXT
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